Food Safety Standards Requirement Setting and GAP Audit Program Acceptance Decision-making by U.S. Buyers

The US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) developed suites of voluntary fee-for-service Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) audit verification programs, which, for reasons not well understood, are underwhelmingly accepted by produce buyers. To explore this low acceptance, this study conceptualized that buyers set food quality and safety requirements that their suppliers must meet to access their markets. These requirements likely influence which audit programs buyers deem acceptable. To date, no study has examined how buyers set these requirements or how such decisions shape their acceptance of GAP audit schemes. Therefore, this study surveyed and interviewed buyers to understand their food safety requirements for various types of produce, suppliers, and operations, as well as how these factors influence their selection of audit programs. The resulting information was used to understand the implications of buyers' food safety requirements for the low acceptance of USDA GAP audit schemes. The findings revealed that buyers' decisions regarding food safety requirements and audit acceptance are complex, shaped by numerous contextual factors, including regulatory demands, supplier and their operation types, operation scale and location, brand types, retailer reputation, produce risk profiles, and the type, scope, and stringency of audit schemes. The primary factors were the buyers' customers' requirements. Beyond fostering food safety, the requirements were set to strengthen buyers' reputation and competitiveness, enhance quality assurance, and help them capture a share of the produce market. The study concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for expanding acceptance of USDA GAP audit schemes.